Rising violence in Darfur threatens relief effort

14 U.N. agencies warn that the aid to millions of refugees will be jeopardized

ALFRED DE MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press

Published 6:30 am, Thursday, January 18, 2007

KHARTOUM, SUDAN — In a sweeping call for help, a wide range of U.N. aid agencies appealed Wednesday to warring parties to end the violence in Darfur, warning the relief keeping millions alive will be "irreversibly jeopardized" if it does not stop.

The humanitarian groups said a massive influx of foreign aid was the only thing "holding the line" for 2.5 million refugees and more than 1 million other civilians in Darfur.

"That line cannot be held much longer," warned the statement issued by 14 United Nations agencies working in Sudan.

Aid groups and U.N. officials have for months been alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating conditions faced by civilians in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since rebels took up arms against the central Sudanese government in 2003, accusing it of neglect.

The government is accused of having retaliated against civilians with air raids and by unleashing the janjaweed, militias of Arab nomads blamed for the worst atrocities in the conflict.

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"Villages have been burned, looted and arbitrarily bombed, and crops and livestock destroyed. Sexual violence against women is occurring at alarming rates. This situation is unacceptable," the statement warned.

The humanitarian groups said what pushed them to issue the appeal Wednesday was the increased targeting of aid workers in the region.

The splintering of rebel groups into lawless factions without clear leadership, as well as government restrictions, is making it ever more difficult for aid workers to operate, they said.

"The humanitarian space that we operate in is shrinking," said Ted Chaiban, Sudan country manager for UNICEF, which signed the appeal. Other signatories included the World Food Program, the U.N. Development Program, and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

With repeated military attacks and shifting front lines, December was the worst month in Darfur in over two years, the statement said.

It followed six months of escalating violence, during which 30 U.N. and other aid compounds were attacked, forcing some 400 U.N. and other aid workers to relocate.

During the same period, 12 aid workers were killed in zones controlled by rebels and government forces.

"Before, aid workers were being caught up in the violence. Now they're actually being targeted," said Alun McDonald, spokesman for the British aid group Oxfam in Sudan.

U.N. and other humanitarian groups say the turning point came on Dec. 18, when at least four aid organizations were attacked in the South Darfur camp of Gereida, the region's largest with 130,000 refugees.